Much ado about gas

The Mumbai Press Club last week held a discussion on gas pricing. The discussion saw participation from journalist and author Paranjoy Guha Thakurta who has authored the book "Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis". Among other panelists invited were Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Union Cabinet minister for petroleum and natural gas, and Kumar Ketkar, senior journalist and columnist. The Press Club invited Reliance Industries to name a representative to join the discussion. RIL declined the request, calling the discussion to be a promotional event for Guha Thakurta's "pamphlet" and expressed its desire to record the proceedings in toto citing that it could impact RIL's corporate reputation. The Press Club declined RIL's request.